Trump's Board of Peace debuts: Who's in, who's out, who could join next
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President Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff during the Board of Peace inaugural session in Washington. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/ Getty Images
More than two dozen countries gathered Thursday for President Trump's first Board of Peace summit.
The big picture: Thursday's meeting offered the first concrete look at which countries will help shape Gaza's future — with more potentially joining.
- Trump has been building his Board of Peace since late last year, with invitations sent to U.S. allies and foes alike.
- Many see the multi-country Board of Peace, established in part to oversee a Gaza ceasefire, as a potential rival to the UN Security Council.
Driving the news: Dozens of country representatives and public figures, like FIFA president Gianni Infantino and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, attended the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., for Thursday's meeting.
- Trump touted the board's plan to shape Gaza's future, teased an attack on Iran and shared his vision for the board's future.
- "The Board of Peace is gonna almost be looking over the United Nations— making sure it runs properly," Trump said Thursday.
Read more on the members of the board.
Who's on the Board of Peace
The countries that accepted invitations to join the board span various regions of the world, according to the board's official X account.
- Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mongolia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.
- Europe: Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo.
- Africa: Egypt, Morocco.
- South America: Argentina, Paraguay.
- North America: El Salvador.
Who's not on the Board of Peace
Multiple countries haven't accepted invitations to join the Board of Peace.
- Per multiple reports, those countries include: Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
- The Vatican declined to join the board this week, citing "certain critical issues."
- Trump revoked Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's invitation to the group.
Reality check: Some U.S. allies planned to attend the meeting to observe the proceedings without being members specifically.
- The U.K. and France are among the countries that have not joined due to concerns that Russia could be involved with the group.
- France said it was surprised that the European Commission sent a representative to the meeting Thursday.
Who could join the Board of Peace
Zoom out: Trump has issued invitations for many countries to join the board, but not everyone has committed.
- China, Croatia, Cyprus, India, the European Union's executive arm and Singapore have been noncommittal about joining, the AP reports.
- Other countries that haven't committed include Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Japan and Switzerland.
Trump has pushed for Russia to join the Board of Peace, but the country has been coy about whether it will join.
- "I think it's important to have everybody in," Trump told reporters in January of Russia potentially joining the board.
- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov suggested earlier this week that the country wouldn't appear at the first summit, but was still working out details about its position, per Russian state media.
What's next: Trump said Thursday that Norway intends to host the next meeting of the Board of Peace.
Go deeper: Here are the "8 wars" Trump says he deserves a Nobel Prize for ending
